Thursday evening, when I got home from work and visiting my cat, I saw a male bobwhite quail eating under our birdfeeder. At first thought it was chukar and I was pretty excited. But, than I looked in the bird book and it wasn't a chukar, it was a bobwhite quail. I still thought it was pretty cool. I also thought it was odd, though. We're not supposed to have wild bobwhites around here.
It quickly became apparent that it was not a wild bird. It didn't run away from me like the other quails do. It would let me get within a few feet from it, before it scurried away. Even then, it wasn't frantic about it, like the California quails are. And then, last night, I went out, at about 11 pm, and as I walked by the birdfeeder I saw it there, underneath, sleeping, out in the open where anyone or anything could see it. Obviously, he didn't know anything about a wild bird and wasn't safe out on his own. After that, I decide I better catch him, or else one of the cats will get him for sure. So, I got my butterfly net and caught him. I put him in old birdcage that my grandma used to keep her cockatiel in and made plans for the next day to go get some chicken wire, food, and stuff, to use to fix him a pen.
Today, I went to town and got my stuff and after I got home from my church's bbq, I started to work on the pen. We have an old dog run and I put the chicken wire over top of it, made a small brush pile, put in a water dish and some food dishes, and an extra garbage can lid with some nice sandy dirt. Then, I put him into the pen, and now, I guess I have a pet bobwhite quail.
It quickly became apparent that it was not a wild bird. It didn't run away from me like the other quails do. It would let me get within a few feet from it, before it scurried away. Even then, it wasn't frantic about it, like the California quails are. And then, last night, I went out, at about 11 pm, and as I walked by the birdfeeder I saw it there, underneath, sleeping, out in the open where anyone or anything could see it. Obviously, he didn't know anything about a wild bird and wasn't safe out on his own. After that, I decide I better catch him, or else one of the cats will get him for sure. So, I got my butterfly net and caught him. I put him in old birdcage that my grandma used to keep her cockatiel in and made plans for the next day to go get some chicken wire, food, and stuff, to use to fix him a pen.
Today, I went to town and got my stuff and after I got home from my church's bbq, I started to work on the pen. We have an old dog run and I put the chicken wire over top of it, made a small brush pile, put in a water dish and some food dishes, and an extra garbage can lid with some nice sandy dirt. Then, I put him into the pen, and now, I guess I have a pet bobwhite quail.
